Saudi Arabia Arrests 200+ For “Public Indecency”

Saudi Arabia has arrested more than 200 people for violating “public decency” – including by wearing immodest clothing – and “harassment“, police said, in the first such crackdown since the ultra-conservative kingdom began easing social norms.

Some 120 men and women have been arrested over the past week for offending public morals, including wearing “inappropriate clothes“, Riyadh police said in a series of statements on Twitter since Tuesday.

Men and women must avoid “tight-fitting clothing” or clothes with “profane language or images“, read an instruction on an English language website launched by the tourism authority. “Women should cover shoulders and knees in public,” it added.